Alarming ignorance of system of governance

Alarming ignorance of system of governance

PETER Costello claims Julia Gillard ''was not elected by caucus the first time around'' (Comment, 28/2). Wrong. She was elected unopposed, just as John Howard was elected Liberal leader unopposed in 1995. He says the PM ''did not win the 2010 election''. Again, wrong. As Mr Costello knows full well, governments are formed by whoever commands a majority in the House of Representatives. Had the independents supported Tony Abbott, I doubt we'd be hearing this nonsense. The minority parliament and leadership saga have exposed alarming levels of ignorance about how our system of government works. It's disappointing to see Mr Costello wilfully contributing to it.

Talk is cheap

HOW brave of Peter Costello. I agree with him on several points, especially about how venomous the ALP leadership spill became. And yet although he writes openly about the ALP's leadership squabbles, he fails to give any insight into his own personal battle with John Howard.

So the question arises: how much venom does Mr Costello still feel pulsing through his veins from the bite of John Howard's betrayal? How did the years of broken promises and lies about a change of leadership affect him? How long will he carry the burden of never having the guts or numbers to seriously challenge Howard? When will he spill to us about hubris and his own party being poll driven? That's what I'd be interested in.

Break up boys' club

WITH his unswerving allegiance to coal and gas, Energy Minister Martin Ferguson has shown he is a paid-up member of the boys' club of politicians, bureaucrats and energy industry leaders clinging desperately to the status quo.

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Who better than our first female prime minister to remind this boys' club that energy infrastructure is there to serve us and not the other way around? Ms Gillard should bring this clique to heel by dumping Ferguson and putting Tanya Plibersek in his place.

Andrew Bray, Ballarat

Rudd ultimatum

THE only explanation I can find for Mark Arbib's resignation is that it is Kevin Rudd's last shot at those responsible for the 2010 coup. I have no doubt that following Monday's vote, Rudd gave Gillard an ultimatum that either Arbib went or he would. The potential risk to Labor of losing Rudd's seat far outweighed the loss of Arbib, who will be replaced from Labor's now ample supply in NSW. This was Rudd's last bullet. No doubt he will retire from the field, rest and rearm to fight another day.

Charles Drummond, Barwon Heads

Now for the rest

SO MARK Arbib has done the decent thing, which may help heal the deep rifts in the ALP. I wonder if any of his parliamentary co-conspirators have the strength of character to follow his lead.

Thomas Hogg, East Melbourne

Access lanes a good start for jet-skis

THE tragic death of a swimmer from a jet-ski collision (The Age, 27/2) is an accident that's been waiting to happen for years, and, without major changes to licensing, education and zoning, will likely happen again.

As a lifesaver patrolling several inner-city beaches, I've witnessed hundreds of jet-skiers flagrantly ignoring the rules - exceeding 5 knots within 200 metres of shore, being within 50 metres from a swimmer or entering swimming-only zones. When questioned, they answer that they do not know how far 200 metres is, what the yellow cones mean or when they are doing only 5 knots.

Clearly, the education and licensing system is hopelessly inadequate. To obtain a boating licence you need only memorise the answers to the sample exam questions in the Victorian boating handbook - the same questions appear on the exam paper - and to obtain a personal water craft endorsement, memorise an extra 19 answers. Why not just give away licences?

Simple ways to increase safety are enhanced education and licensing, practical tests, more and larger clearly marked buoys, zone signage on all beaches and boat ramps, designated PWC access lanes in non-swimming areas and a ban on PWCs entering water other than via an access lane.

Gerard Kennedy, Bentleigh

Special measures

THERE are some more sinister reasons why university students drop out (''Tuning in to those dropping out'', The Age, 28/2).

My daughter began a hospitality course in Bendigo two years ago and found that because of university cost-cutting by combining lectures, hospitality students had to study accounting and statistics with students from the full-time accountancy and maths courses. No consideration was given for a lack of secondary school study or aptitude in those specialised areas. Apparently about 25 of the 30 hospitality students therefore failed their first year and dropped out.

When I and other parents tried to intervene, the university cited ''privacy'' as a reason to refuse to talk to us or rectify the problem. I had the impression the university could not care less - it had received funding for these teenagers to start the course, and there was always next year's crop of bright-eyed students to exploit.

Jennie Hill, Kangaroo Ground

Elderly bled dry

THE main reason people are not entering retirement villages is that often the units cost at least $200,000 more than comparable accommodation in the same neighbourhood (''Retiree villages get old shoulder'', BusinessDay, 28/2). Then there are the maintenance costs, which are much higher in the villages than when tradespeople are employed outside. Finally, there are the convoluted and hard-to-understand contracts that favour village owners when a property has to be sold.

We have been told that the attitude of village operators is to "bleed them dry before they die". It seems to continue afterwards, when the unit has to be sold.

Zona Severn, Mount Martha

Win-win situation

WHAT are they thinking ("Locals looking a million-dollar gift house in the mouth", The Age, 27/2")? As a near neighbour of the Lyon Housemuseum, I was delighted to learn of the owners' exciting and generous plan to extend their small, home-based gallery. Having bought adjacent land, they want to create a small public gallery and donate it to public ownership.

Having visited the Housemuseum (a European and American concept little known in Australia), I believe that an extension to the museum could only be of benefit to locals and those coming from further afield.

I am told that tourists who inquire about getting to the Heide Museum of Modern Art by public transport are often deterred by the difficulty of the journey. How wonderful it would be if there were a world-class small gallery a short tram ride from the city. Three major shopping strips would be just another short tram ride away. A win-win for everyone.

George Deutsch, Kew

Covenant in place

IT HAS been reported that local opposition to the House-museum proposal centred on noise and traffic, but from the beginning these were on the bottom rung of residents' concerns. Residents are chiefly dismayed by the fact that Corbett Lyon has sought to remove a 30-year-old residential covenant, put in place specifically to protect the amenity of local residents from commercial development in their backyards.

Mr Lyon's ''gift'' would have had a far greater chance of being welcomed by the community if he had followed the processes that every other commercial developer has to follow.

If he had ensured the site on which he wished to build a museum was in a zone allowing commercial development, and thus took into consideration allowances for visitor numbers and car parking requirements, there would never have been any issues to contend with.

Ken Finlayson, Kew

Lifesavers

I WOULD like to thank the two women who kept my father alive when he had a heart attack on the corner of Bourke and Queen streets last Wednesday. They performed CPR until the ambulance arrived - in a miraculous four minutes. My British friends are amazed: ''What a civilised country,'' they exclaim, and I have to agree.

Phillippa Slinger, Ledbury, UK

Who do you trust, the state or nurses?

THE government refuses to negotiate with nurses in the presence of an independent umpire. Instead, it seeks the Federal Court's intervention to force nurses back to work. Nurses refuse to discuss removal of their ''safe ratios'' and are vilified by the government as ''cruel'' (''Bid to stop walkouts by nurses'', The Age, 28/2).

What is going on? Has the world gone mad? Or are we only being given part of the story? Perhaps it's time we asked ourselves who do we trust. On the one hand, we have the leaders of this great state who, for the benefit of us all, arrange wonderful attractions such as the grand prix, a bargain at $55 million. On the other hand, we have the nurses, who regularly top the charts of the ''most trusted profession'' in the country. The nurses claim that the removal of ratios will endanger the patients they give so much care to, and will destroy the world-class public health system that every Victorian deserves and expects.

Who is telling the truth? And who do you trust?

Lynn Carpenter, Rosebud South

Not just numbers

DAVID Davis, Ted Baillieu, health ministers, premiers, executives and governments all come and go. And as they age and become infirm - a fate that awaits us all - I hope they are grateful to brave nurses who are now putting their livelihoods at risk. Not for personal gain, but to protect the safety, dignity and, ultimately, the lives of their patients.

One to four; just abstract numbers in a ratio. But one day, it might be you or me, Mr Davis, making up those numbers.

Dr Aaron Bloch, Carlton North

Rent a GP crowd

CONGRATULATIONS on your editorial regarding the grand prix and its lack of accountability (''Victorian taxpayers suffer new financial deals'', 27/2).

The Grand Prix Act ensures freedom of information requests are denied because "tricky" questions - such as who makes up the attendance figures - can "disadvantage" the Australian Grand Prix Corporation. The offer of 70,000 free tickets to locals shows that this event is more about renting a crowd than enticing tourists.

Joan Logan, South Melbourne

Protection on track

IN THE past several months I have witnessed several appalling incidents on inner-city trains. One involved a brawl between drunken youths, which resulted in one of them being knocked unconscious while terrified passengers looked on. Another involved racial abuse, where a brave young woman who objected to the behaviour was spat upon. These incidents (and more) have all occurred between 10am and 4pm.

My only objection is that protective officers will not be on duty all day to protect us from the few who have turned public transport into a free-for-all of bad and dangerous behaviour.

Diane Johnson, St Kilda

Maturing early

KATE Gotlib (Letters, 27/2) questions when Georgie Rychner (Letters, 25/2) ''was last in a school''. Georgie is a student in my year 12 literature class. I am flattered that she was mistaken for someone older. I hope this demonstrates that maturity of thought and opinion does not begin when schooling ends.

Justin Shaw, Canterbury Girls' Secondary College, Ringwood East

I AM glad Kevin Rudd was never treasurer. It seems he can't count.

Tony James, Battery Point, Tasmania

Politics

PETER Costello says the Prime Minister is mistaken if she thinks Kevin Rudd has given up. Why is she, Peter? You did.

TONY Abbott questions Ms Gillard's mandate to be PM because she only got 71 per cent of the caucus vote, winning by 40 votes. He should have reflected on his own mandate for the position of opposition leader before opening his mouth. After all, he only won by one vote.

Ross Hudson, Camberwell

DID Mark Arbib inform the US embassy he was resigning from Parliament or did the US embassy inform Arbib he was resigning? Whatever, I am keenly interested to learn who will be Arbib's new employer.

Mick Phillips, Brunswick West

ONE positive outcome of Julia Gillard winning the playground stoush is that it means we will surely get rid of Labor at the next election.

The media

ALP politicians have been saying that after the ballot they will put the leadership issue behind them. Any chance the media will do the same?

Elizabeth Shaw, South Yarra

A MAGNIFICENT victory for Australia's Prime Minister. She has defeated the world's most powerful media man.

Keith Remington, Travancore

PART of a headline on Monday's ABC News was: ''Labor's troubles haven't gone away.'' How do they know? It would have been more honest to say: ''Let us (the hysterical media) hope Labor's troubles haven't gone away.''

James Beaumont, Yarraville

Elsewhere

DAVID Davis, with respect (for the truth), it is you who is compromising Victorian healthcare, not our nurses.

Bronwyn Love, Avondale Heights

WHY not restrict jet-skiers' use of Port Phillip Bay to those days when our Third World sewerage system has rendered the water unsafe for swimming?